By the nature of their work, Chicago’s first responders are routinely in close quarters with people and duty-bound to perform in extreme situations.

They have even been spat on. Covered in blood. Exposed to dangerous substances used to mix narcotics.

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And now this. The unfolding coronavirus pandemic — an unprecedented public health crisis that makes their jobs even more essential but still requires them to be in uncontrolled environments on the street.

Both the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Fire Department have been left to come up with ways to protect their own as they do their work, and to prepare contingency plans for what was inevitable — one of their own contracting the virus.

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It was a threat made all too real Tuesday when a paramedic was reported to be the first from one of the departments to test positive for COVID-19. An assistant deputy chief paramedic soon followed, on Wednesday, and on Thursday, the first member of CPD tested positive.

“Until we go down, this is our job,” one officer who spoke to the Tribune about his concerns said. “When s--- hits the fan, we can’t retreat. ... It is what it is."

A training stoppage

Earlier this week, CPD canceled all of the training at its police academy on Jackson Boulevard, sending its more than 200 recruits to other police facilities to help distribute shipments of tens of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and hand wipes.

Recruits even were directed to help disinfect the inside of squad cars.

The canceling of the training was a bold step, as the academy has been a crucial part of changes to the department in recent years, including the effort to put 1,000 more officers on the street. And it is the hub for new training programs mandated under a court-enforced consent decree designed to bring sweeping reforms to a department with a history of misconduct and abuse.

Other steps were taken as well. Police said they would no longer respond to conduct death investigations if there was no clear indication of a crime, and there were some indications that some units had quietly shifted duties to help monitor public places such as grocery stores to keep order.

Each call to 911 was being screened, with operators probing for signs of the virus’ presence.

The leader of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police publicly called for a testing facility to be set up at police headquarters, a wish department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said is still out of reach.

When the crisis started, even having the right protective masks was a hurdle, as the department had supplies that included generic surgical and gas masks. Now that it has the type of stronger mask suited to protect breathing and guard against the virus — known as an N95 — it faces the issue of training officers to use the masks.

As of Wednesday, with coronavirus entrenching itself across Chicago, training on the masks still was happening only with the SWAT teams, with district officers slated to go next. About 40 officers per day were being trained, officials said.

As 911 operators worked to isolate which calls might include a COVID-19 exposure, the department was preparing to designate two response cars per watch in each of the 22 patrol districts with officers who had been trained on the new N95 masks. Any call with an obvious exposure risk would include them.

As for other contingency plans, all sworn officers had been ordered to report to work in uniform so they could fill for another unit in the event that unit experienced a positive test that required a group quarantine.

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And to reduce exposure across the board, the department was encouraging officers to be judicious in their arrests — even advising they issue an ordinance violation in response to a low-level crime as opposed to making a physical arrest.

In harm’s way

This weekend, as Chicago airports struggled to handle overflowing crowds trying to return to the U.S. and make it through customs, EMS personnel were there, helping with screenings as hundreds of passengers waited in hourslong lines.

Like Chicago’s police, the Fire Department has reemphasized training and implemented changes as two of its members tested positive this week, underscoring the looming threat.

According to a memo Tuesday about the first coronavirus case from Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Richard Ford II, the department has conducted a “thorough cleaning and disinfection operation” of the firehouse where the first infected paramedic worked, as well as any vehicles and equipment the paramedic used when symptomatic.

Officials were also trying to identify people who may have had contact with the paramedic, and that person’s partner was ordered to self-quarantine.

Firefighters and paramedics responding to emergency calls are using personal protective equipment designed specifically for respiratory isolation, officials said. And the department has emphasized protocols on responding to 911 calls believed to have a higher risk for disease transmission.

The department was ensuring there were enough N95 masks, face shields, gloves for responders to wear two layers and disposable gowns.

Chicago Fire Department firefighters respond to the scene of a blaze that gutted a residence in the 1400 block of East 55th Street on Jan. 7, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said emergency dispatchers have been flagging calls related to respiratory issues so paramedics can make an assessment of what precautions to take while treating and transporting those patients. Unlike at CPD, training has continued, although groups of recruits have been divided in attempt to avoid a catastrophic, sweeping infection that might take an entire class out of commission.

“We need to get the training done and we need to get them on the street,” Langford said. “Being on the front line, there is a chance we may see more people that have to take time off, and we must be as robust as possible to replace them.

“Quarantine and isolation will be done as required, if required,” he said.

‘Flexibility is key’

Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, said years ago, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, large cities engaged in more scenario-based training exercises.

Pandemics were a part of those simulations, Cramer said, though not for something as specific as the coronavirus.

“You can do different exercises to prepare people, but you are never going to have the identical virus or chemical (in real life) that an exercise prepares you for,” he said.

Cramer, now a security expert, said the most important thing for Chicago cops to do now is be flexible and ready to shift several officers to replace units that might have to go into quarantine because of a positive test.

“They are literally the definition of first responders,” he said. “As we try to prognosticate what is going to happen in the next few weeks, that level of flexibility is key.”

Dr. George Chiampas, who teaches emergency medicine at the Northwestern University medical school, said in an interview Monday that he supported the decision to continue aggressively training first responders.

Chiampas also encouraged civilians to avoid needlessly calling emergency services or jeopardizing the health of others by venturing out while ill, adding even more stress to the system unnecessarily.

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“It’s every citizen’s responsibility to heed the directives that are being delivered,” he said. “Resources will be available as long as citizens are responsible.”

Drawing contingency plans

Interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck has expanded his daily briefings to three, police said, as the department works to cover every possibility.

One of them is the threat of a large-scale reduction in force caused by infection. Officers assigned to units inside police headquarters have been told they might have to fill in on the street.

Guglielmi, the department spokesman, said the department is still responding to each call it receives. It’s a must, as the spread of coronavirus so far has done little to reduce violence. Actually the opposite has been true.

“We’re in a crime uptick, and our core focus will always be violence reduction,” Guglielmi said. “We have to balance this with this urgent pandemic.”

In a COVID-19 world, some police facilities were working on social distancing, with cones set up to keep members of the public in a line, much like a bank, rather than just congregating around a district station’s front desk.

In short, officers were taking no chances with a virus that has made their already dangerous job even more so.

“They are out there exposed to the possibility of contracting a communicable disease. Being hurt. Being shot. Being killed,” one supervisor said. "They understand the risk factors on this job on a daily basis. Because this thing is more rampant, the possibility of exposure is greater. But they know and understand their jobs. This is what we do. These officers are taking care of each other.”

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The supervisor was among a handful of Chicago police officers — speaking on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the media — who acknowledged their concern.

Another supervisor said he was working to limit his contact with the public, primarily responding to 911 calls and not proactively stopping people on the street.

And while he may have washed his hands three to four times a day prior to the spread of the virus, he said he now washes them 10 to 11 times a day.

“My hands are all dried out,” the supervisor said.

One Chicago police supervisor, who said he normally wouldn’t hesitate to search a decrepit abandoned building, told the Tribune he now pauses for an extra second in some situations. Basic daily motions have now become magnified.